"Make" an awesome Forge Map!

As many of you may know, I am an exceptional Forger. I have made everything from ships to restaurants, and none of my maps have ever failed to be fun and impressive.

Now, currently I have 2 big Forge projects in development that will change the way you think of Forge forever. But I need to take a break from those, to kind of refresh my creativity and look at new styles of maps. I was thinking one day, "why not use my forging to help someone?", and decided to host a contest. So here it is...

The Official NC Dream Map Contest

The purpose of this event is to allow someone whose forging skills are not so hot to be able to create a map that will be adored by their friends and even enemies! Whoever wins will have their map built from the ground up by me and my team. We will build nearly everything, then bring in the winner and allow them to place the final block. Afterwards, all rights to the map will go to the winner, and none of us will take any credit for it whatsoever.

THE RULES

• you can't ask for modded maps or elements (illegal material).
• no gun art, only fully playable maps.
• any NSFW material will be denied.
• the map will only be on Foundry.

THE PRIZES

• a map designed by yours truly.
• a special spot reserved on my friends list over Xbox Live.
• a special membership for NinjaCritic.
• a chance to observe my 2 secret projects.

HOW TO ENTER

• to enter the contest, simply send an email to mcnealylindsey@gmail.com detailing your map with a description (what it should look like, what should happen, etc.) and your Gamertag. If you were to send a sketch as well, that'd be great. A good drawing canvas for Foundry can be found here: http://www.bungie.net/images/News/InlineImages2007/Special%20Features/FoundrySoccer/foundry.pdf.

And that's all there is to it! I should probably come out and say that if you post your ideas on the comments box, they WILL NOT BE VALID. Just use the email like you're supposed to, ok? :)

Contest ends on August 1st, 2008. Good luck!

No updates?

Man, Yeti hasnt updated in awhile, huh? Well, guys, if you want constant, daily updates in a new blog for all gamers, go to [NAME OMITTED] and enjoy.

Pardon the delay

Sorry for anyone who actually reads my reviews/help. I have been VERY busy and haven't had time to write. I just got out so the Hornet should be up soon

Vehicle Review-Warthog

Warthog Review






Overall
Name of vehicle: Warthog
Alignment: Human
Weapon systems: Tri-barreled machine gun, Gauss cannon, or extra troop space
Maximum carrying capacity: Three or Five
Rouge's recommended carrying capacity: Two or Five
Recommended Gametype use: VIP, Infection, Assault, Slayer, CTF, ... Pretty much anything.

Stats
Sturdiness: 7/10
Maneuverability: 6/10
Hitpoints: 6/10
Protection:
Driver: 8/10
Passenger: 8/10
Gunner: 5/10
Commonness: 8/10
Effectiveness against land: 7/10
Effectiveness against air: 9/10
Effectiveness against infantry: 8/10
Overall Effectiveness: 7.2/10

Bonuses
Link to me driving: http://www.bungie.net/stats/Halo3/FileShare.aspx?gamertag=Rouge%20119 slot 23


Mehehehe! The Warthog. Probably one of the most famous vehicle from Halo.
This is by far a favored vehicle by many people. With it's variations of troop 'hog, or gauss, or the classic mounted turret. Let me tell you this thing can be the devil on wheels. Load this baby up with rockets in the side, and man on turret and your set!
It's a little more tactical to use only two people though. one on turret and one driving. It is not to be said that the prowler is better. I quote Hobo Wrath from Inside Halo when he said. " The prowler is the bas**** offspring of the spectre from Halo 2 and the pile of poo from behind me apartment." As you see from my opinion I much like the Warthog over the Prowler.

Lets get to tactics. Well the Warthog is quite obviously a very tactical weapon. In maps such as Standoff and Avalanche, if you manage to steal the opposing teams Warthog(s), then give them a crew, you will dominate the battlefield. Lose your warthog and YOU WILL LOSE. unless your me. I have insane vehicle skills. Basically, The Warthog is a VERY balanced weapon. Use it or Lose it.


Since this is my first review, I don't know what guys want out of a review, So leave a comment, The only request for the next vehicle is for the Hornet. Please comment on anything, vehicle, info, whatever. Leave a comment! When It's determined what the next vehicle, I'll start writing!


I'll see you on the course, Rouge

Why Hello thar!

Hello let me introduce my self, I'm one of the newest writers for NC; Babamthegrunt.
I'll be brining you the latest in tech and gadget news, along with the occasional random tidbit; and game review.
I'll keep it SFW here, but if you want to hear my uncensored rambelings; go to http://www.freewebs.com/itsonthefloor
There you'll hear all of my most inane inner thoughts, and be exposed to the most random text in all of mankind.
Check back later for my preview of the Pandora Handheld, and my Review of Alien Syndrome for PSP.
Bai Bai

Rouge's Driving Reviews!

Hello all! Let me introduce myself. My name is Rouge and I will be your driving instructor.
I bet your all saying. "Wait, driving instructor?" Yes you heard right! I will be teaching and reviewing the vehicles from Halo 3. The format will look something like this for the main post.

Overall
Name of vehicle:
Alignment:
Weapon systems:
Maximum carrying capacity:
Rouge's recommended carrying capacity:
Recommended Gametype use:

Stats
Sturdiness:
Maneuverability:
Hitpoints:
Commonness:
Effectiveness against land:
Effectiveness against air:
Effectiveness against infantry:
Overall Effectiveness:

Bonuses
Link to me driving:

The Stats will be on a 1-10 ratio. 1 being worst and 10 being best.

For every vehicle I will try to include a link to my fileshare where you can download a video of me driving the given vehicle on that map.

This will mostly try to be weekly from every Thursday

Any questions just leave a c0mment!


I'll see you on the course, Rouge

NC Update!!

Well, I've been away from this thing for a while, so you know what that means... time for an Official NinjaCritic Update!

Why Have You Been Away? I Missed You!

I got caught up in stuff (summer break, Halo, modeling, etc.). I am truly sorry for this wait, but the fast is now over!

The Fast is over? You didn't exactly post every day on here...

This is true. But, look over to the right side of this page. See now that there are more contributors to the site. That's right, more authors who will bring you great NC content! Don't worry, be happy! :)

What can we expect in the future from NinjaCritic?

Oh, I better not spoil it. But, here's a quick sample of some stuff...

• More movie reviews
• More game reviews
• More movie and game news
• Editorials
• Fun Lists
• Guide to Summer Styles (by me)
• Naruto Chapter Analyses (Japanese weekly)
• The Halo Manga (hopefully one new chapter every week)

You see, I think you should stick around. We are definitely going to become much bigger just over this Summer. Come on, kids, jump on board the bandwagon! :)

That's about it for the NinjaCritic Official Update this week. Take care!

Halo Manga Teaser

Just a Teaser of what the Halo Manga will look like. Note that this picture does not reflect any story elements; I just found a cool melee attack on http://www.haloscreenshots.net/ and used the editing that I will use.

Also, it wouldn't be a manga without the cool effects; in the real version, I will add lots of lines and dramatic stuff. So get ready! :)

POLL

POLL

"Beat the Yeti" for 05/05/08

Yes, we're here. And we fought this week, unlike last week, where GTA IV got in the way of last week's team (in other words, they were scared).

Ok, this week, we faced Team FetalKittens (seriously, what's up with these names?). Read below for the brain-numbing details!

Team Yeti

HeavenlyYeti- 'The Next American Idol'

TheRussianKoLob- 'Psycho'

Lilkuke- 'not so little anymore, it seems'

The Phr3ak- 'Reading Rainbow!'

Team FetalKittens

Llamatek- 'Teh Leader'

CODii- 'Triforce FTW'

r053B0y5- 'every rose has a thorn, you know'

earle117- 'I Love Yeti!'

GAME 1

Yes, that's an Explorer window you're seeing above. That's because I'm posting this at school. Anyway, The first game was Team Snipers on Rat's Nest. We got off to a rough start, what with RussianKoLob being all "M.I.A." and me just trying out the Bumper-Jumper control scheme for the first time.

But soon we found our grip and began popping some heads. During this bloody battle along the endlessly looping roads of the UNSC base, The Phr3ak and I sang in a duet that, well, wasn't exactly a voice from the heavens. But, yeah, I sang a rendition of Darkspire Films' song "No Scope Was Involved" and Phr3ak was my backup.

Apparently our singing actually were what won us the match. We thoroughly confused Team Fetal and thus emerged victorious. Yay!

Final Score: 25-22, Team Yeti wins

GAME 2

Well, our singing won us the match last time. So, like the Americans we are, we decided to do it again. However, the other team had become wise to us, and were expecting it when we poured our performance of "Reading Rainbow" upon their ears. We totally got owned, but I feel like this is a good time to give a little list of songs that we tried on these guys.

"Everytime We Touch" by Cascada

"Still Alive" by GLaDoS

"Reading Rainbow" by Reading Rainbow

"Numb" by Linkin Park

"Umbrella" by Rihanna

"When You Say Nothing At All" by Alison Krauss

Note that the above listed songs will NOT work on their team anymore.

Final Score: 100-29, Team FetalKittens wins

GAME 3

Why is it that every time we do these things, we end up having a tiebreaker? Can't we just win twice in a row sometime? Yes, I'm talking to you, teammates.

Ok, prior to the Challenge, I had received an e-mail from Llamatek asking if we could play Team Swat on their own map, charmingly named "Fugly". Being the nice guy that I am, of course I approved!

So, here's the basic premise of this map, based on my understanding: You and your team run around through some teleporters and shoot the other team. The teleporters go all over the place, and there are tons of MLG-style callouts for this map, such as "The Sniper Box". Now, try as I might, never once did I find this so-called "box". I personally think Team FetalKittens is a bunch of dastardly villains who knew I was listening when they spoke, so they would lie about stuff. I swear I heard somebody say "Yo, I'm in the part that looks like Epitaph!"

The battle went on for seemingly forever, and man was the score close! But through and through, we emerge victorious.

Final Score: 50-49, Team Yeti wins.

Thanks to everyone who participated. If you would like to face Team Yeti in the weekly Beat the Yeti challenge, please shoot an E-mail to mcnealylindsey@gmail.com. We welcome getting our butts whooped (again).We play next week on MONDAY, May 12th, 2008, at 7:00 pm est.Thanks!!

Reviews!!

Ok, we don't just sit here and play Halo all day. We are called NinjaCritic, after all. Yes, we will bring you reviews! Not just of games, either. We will cover everything from big games to movies to Naruto chapters and episodes.

Due to the length of these reviews, a separate, sister blog will be the place to find these; this prevents making the front page look all cluttered (more than it is now). The reviewing section of the blog can be found at


http://ninjareviews.blogspot.com


Now, there are two reviews this week. The first is a review and analysis of the newest chapter of the Naruto manga. The second is a review of the much-anticipated Iron Man movie, due out today.
The Naruto Review is up now, and can be found at http://ninjareviews.blogspot.com/2008/05/review-for-naruto-chapter-398-spoilers.html

The Iron Man Review will be posted soon, after I have had a chance to see the movie tonight. So, expect the review to be up sometime between Saturday and Monday.

So, yeah, go check out my expert Naruto analysis, and as always, have a great day!

Shooting Through 2008

You can't deny: 2007 was a big year for FPS games. To help you get your fix through this year, check out my list! and yes, these are chronological, detailing what you should pick up as the year passes.

First up, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars!!

Yes, it's rated T for Teen. But it still promises to be quite a ride. Call of Duty 4 meets Halo. The perfect storm, right? I have complete faith in this game, and think everyone should pick this up. Sure, the graphics aren't the BEST out there, but it still looks promising. Also, it is said that this game will have the most advanced AI in a game to date. It is released May 27, 2008. For you guys on the fence, a demo will be released on XBL May 15th. Check that out.

Next...

Battlefield: Bad Company. Yes, I know, I know. Our friends at http://www.sarcasticgamer.com/ originally organized a boycott of this game, but know that that boycott has since been lifted because a fair compromise has been made. That said, this game looks gorgeous and is HUGE. Definitely the place to wage war this summer when you take a break from COD 4 or Halo. Massive battles ranging from the deserts of Africa to Golf Courses (yes, you can drive the golf carts) and giant multiplayer matches make this a must-have FPS this year. Plus, you know, EA is promising a free batch of sweet DLC for this game. Bad Company releases June 23, 2008. There is no knowledge of a Demo at this time.

Now...

No, that's not Gears of War 2 you see above. That is Unreal Tournament 3. Made by Epic Games, the studio behind Gears of War, this beautiful FPS uses Unreal Engine 3 to its full advantage. In fact, Unreal Engine was built to fit this game's standards. Here's a quote from an interview with Mark Rein, president of Epic:

"This game is really fast-paced. It's Gears on crack!"

I think that sums it up right there. Unreal Tournament 3 comes out July 7th, 2008 (hey, my mom's birthday!).

Then Valve steps in...

Left 4 Dead. *shudders*. The best game coming this year in my opinion. I'm sure my friend Lono would agree. Ok, you've got Valve, the developers of Half-Life, Portal, Counter-Strike, and TF2 working on a survival game built from the ground up for co-op. And the AI in this game is set to be the most amazing (more than Quake Wars) in a game. EVER. The game will also be really dynamic. More so than Halo 3. No encounter will ever be the same. There's also a multiplayer mode similar to Halo 3's "Infection", except with maps built just for Zombies, plus the zombies actually look like zombies, which is a definite plus.

Pick this up! I can't stress it enough. Currently, this game is set for "Q3 2008". So, somewhere between July and the end of September. Be ready.

And it all leads to this...

Halo: Chronicles. Not much is known about this game, other than it is being developed by Peter Jackson (FTW) and will "be a revolutionary new chapter in the Halo Universe". It is slated to come out this year, and I couldn't be more excited. Peter Jackson is my favorite movie director ever, and Bungie still has quite a presence in this project. If you ask me, this game is primed to be Game of the Year. And although we don't exactly know if this will be an FPS, it's Halo. I think it deserves to be on this list.

So, there you have it. One great looking schedule this year! Save your haypennies, children!

No "Beat The Yeti" This Week

Sorry guys. Due to a horrible turn of fate (GTA IV), the team that was going to fight us last night fell victim to a horrible disease (GTA IV). We wish them the best of luck in recovering from this sickness (GTA IV) and look forward to playing them in the future.


Also, future "Beat The Yeti" challenges will be held on Mondays starting next week.

GTA IV out

I'm sure it's a good game. ten out of ten everywhere. I just won't buy it because I don't wanna invest the time. But, hey, you go buy it. Looks beautiful!

"Beat The Yeti" for 04/23/08

Alright! Beat The Yeti has officially taken off, everyone! This week, we've got a good match for you.



TEAMS

Team Yeti

HeavenlyYeti- 'n00b'
PoD H3x Corona- 'lolollollolollollol'
T Clay1- 'Only 90 minutes?!'
JABADAPOLLARD- 'Sailor Mouth'
Avocado Theory (ALT)- 'The Dude who became a veggie'
xAPxLx Vick (ALT)- 'Sorry I'm late'


Team Flaming Tampons (??)

sniper219- 'I made the name!'
Shark331- 'Why am I here?'
bobtackular- 'Is there such thing as an "overbob"?'
eestraz- 'The bane of all mankind'
At4User (ALT)- 'No-scope!'



As you can tell from the roster above, we had to call in Alternates this time. Oh, it was so chaotic. You're lucky you weren't there.
Anyway...


GAME 1

We played One Flag on Trial By Fire, a map made by yours truly. It is basically a fort I threw together in about an hour one day, but turned out to be really solid gameplay. The defenders have a fortress built over approximately half of Foundry. There is a set of stairs in the courtyard, leading to the battlements. From here, you can loop around into the Keep, where the flag is located. The attackers have an open field, back entrances to the fort, grav lifts that spawn after a minute in, and a sniper mountain.
Anywho, the match started with us on offense. Having made the map, you'd think I'd have a little advantage, right? ahahaha, wrong. The other team did a stupendous job defending their castle, and did not yield. We didn't move the flag once.
Next round, we were defending. The other team moved like exotic acrobats, coordinating with each other perfectly. Multiple times, we would chase down an enemy that turned a corner, and be pummeled by three more. Somehow, though, we held them off.
Third Round. No scores had been made. So,what did we do? We RAMBO'd them, of course! Like swift shinobi we moved, slaughtering Team FlamingTampons, and making off with the flag.
In Round Four, they essentially did the same thing as we did and scored rather quickly, resulting in a tie.

Final Score: 1-1, Tie.
Download the film here: http://www.bungie.net/forums/posts.aspx?h3fileid=32087788


GAME 2

We played Team Snipers (ZOMG!) on High Ground here. You can guess how this went. Lots of no-scopes and craziness. It was a close match, and describing the flow of this battle in text would make no sense. So, I leave it up to you to watch the film and determine how good (horrible?) we all did.
By the way, their team won this one.

Final Score: 50-44, Team FlamingTampons wins.
Dowload the Film here: http://www.bungie.net/forums/posts.aspx?h3fileid=32088101



GAME 3

Team Slayer. BR start. Blackout. You know the rest.
What? You thought we lost? Haha, the joke's on you this time, fair reader! We totally used our 1337 jumping skills and BR smarts this time. This match also marked a lot of frustration and tension between the teams, due to the excessive trash-talking generously provided by JABADAPOLLARD in the previous matches (he's not on my team anymore...). Lucky us, we won and calmed everyone down. You see, for the first time ever, we were at an impasse. As far as scores were concerned, we were tied, 2-2. You wanna download this film, because, well, it's probably the only documented footage of ME actually going okay on Blackout/Lockout...

finals Score: 50-41, Team Yeti wins
Download the Film here: http://www.bungie.net/forums/posts.aspx?h3fileid=32088271



GAME 4 (wut?)

Ah, Valhalla, the place of legends. Battlefield of gods. Heehee, we won!
:D

Final Score: 50-27, Team Yeit wins
Download the Film here: http://www.bungie.net/forums/posts.aspx?h3fileid=32088421






Thanks to everyone who participated. If you would like to face Team Yeti in the weekly Beat the Yeti challenge, please shoot an E-mail to mcnealylindsey@gmail.com. We welcome getting our butts whooped (again).We play next week on TUESDAY (notwednesday), April 29th, 2008, at 7:00 pm est.Thanks!!
Also, you can check out Team FlamingTampons at their new website, found at
www.flamingtampons.spruz.com

BIG Year For Xbox 360

Hey, just a quick post here.
I was looking around the interwebz today, and I noticed that there are two, yes, TWO, Halo games coming out this year! That's, like, six years worth of Halo content based on the past!
Plus, there's Gears of War 2. Woot!


Halo Wars: winter 2008
Halo Chronicles: winter 2008
Gears of War 2: fall 2008


(NOTE: Due to these all coming out more or less at the same time, I personally expect something to be delayed a bit. But, who's to say?)

"Beat The Yeti": 04/16/08

Well, here it goes: my little "Bungie Humpday" ripoff, "Beat the Yeti". This week, my team and I battled against Team Dec3ption (ZOMG). Did we do good? Umm....not really. Read below for our tale of misery and woe.




Teams


Team Yeti

HeavenlyYeti- "Can't wait to play Ghost Town!"


xAPxLx Vick - "Pick me up at midfield!!"


PoD H3x Corona- 'All smiles'


T Clay1 - 'Trash talker'




Team Dec3ption

xl SYN3RGY lx - 'Pro'


xl DEC3PTION lx - 'Uchiha Itachi'


xl BURNID3 lx - 'late to the show but ready to go!'


x BeZeRK x - 'Uchiha Sasuke'




GAME 1




In game 1, we fired up Multi-flag on Yetilanche, a slight moderation of Avalanche. Immediately, we get in the vehicles, and rain fire and brimstone on the other team. We take over their base, and they start spawning in the mountain passes. This made for an explosive standoff indeed. While Corona and T Clay were locked in epic combat, I escorted Vick with the flag via Hornet for a classy flag cap. Then we did it again.


As the battle raged under the mountain, blue team eventually fought their way out and into some vehicles. As I was going for the sniper rifle, an enemy Banshee hovered close by and tried to splatter me. Bad mistake. I skyjacked him quickly and, as hee flipped this way and that, hoping it would help shake me off, I kicked him out, sending his body tumbling into the icy ocean below.


As Vick went for the last score, we met some coordinated resistance at our base. Tanks and Wraiths and Warthogs, oh my! But through true spirit, we pulled through, scoring the winning point.





Final score: 3-0, Team Yeti wins

Download the Film here: http://www.bungie.net/forums/posts.aspx?h3fileid=30552724




GAME 2


So, we won that one. Don't start thinking we're just some awesome team of soldiers who can coordinate people to do exactly what we want. Don't believe me? Check this one out!
Okay, it's time for Blackout. Everyone's favorite map. We thought we just might have this one, but little did we know that the other team was comprised of up-and-coming MLG pros. There was a BR start, so you know the rest.
We ran around like headless chickens in these narrow corridors, listening to people calling out stuff like "They're at R2D2!" or "Sword's at C3PO!". It ended in our shameful defeat, and a Steaktacular medal.

Final score: 50-27, Team Dec3ption wins

Download the Film here: http://www.bungie.net/forums/posts.aspx?h3fileid=30551509




GAME 3


Here we are. Ghost Town. Arguably the best map of the Legendary Map Pack. The gametype was Assault, and we knew we'd lose this one. So, before the other team had arrived prior to the beginning, we had gone into Forge to kind of tip things a little in our favor (3 sniper rifles, 1 turret watching Bomb Plant point, Rockets, and a few other victory guarantees). What we didn't realize, though, was that when the other team inveitably took us by surprise, we would be forced to spawn outside our base.
What happened next was utter hilarity. We tried to rig this game, but it backfired on us completely. They scored 3 bombings in under 5 minutes, causing us to lose the Beat The Yeti challenge this week.


Final score: 3-0, Team Dec3ption wins

Download the Film here: http://www.bungie.net/forums/posts.aspx?h3fileid=30551992


Thanks to everyone who participated. If you would like to face Team Yeti in the weekly Beat the Yeti challenge, please shoot an E-mail to mcnealylindsey@gmail.com. We welcome getting our butts whooped (again).
We play next week on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008, at 7:00 pm est.

Thanks!!

Legendary Maps coming this Tuesday!

Just a reminder...

Halo 3: Legendary Map Pack

Cost: 800 Microsoft Points

Awesomeness: 12 out of 10

Available: April 15th, 2008

Yay!

Condemned 2 for Xbox 360 demo on Marketplace

For you horror fans out there, it may please you to know that the demo for "Condemned 2: Bloodshot" is now available for free download on the Xbox Live Marketplace. I may check it out, though I won't be buying the game. If you've known me previously, you would be aware that I am not by any means a horror fan!
But, you know, if you're into that kind of thing, it's probably a good preview.

A New Start

Well, it is after all the year 2008. I needed to move that musty old blog I had a long time ago! And now, here I am. I will definitely try to keep this one a serious representation of stuff that goes on in the world of entertainment. So, bear with me! Well, I guess the first thing I should do is put a disclaimer...

THERE ISN'T MUCH HERE YET! BUT THERE WILL BE!!

Ok, now then. Off the top of my head, I can only think of one thing to post today, and that would be a nice (in my opinion!) piece of fan-art I drew recently of the Companion Cube from Portal.

So, what do you think? Now, I have been away from the drawing scene for a while, but now I'm hopefully gonna be able to get back in! ^_^

So, um, yeah, guess I'll get back to you (or will I?).